Samwise Hikes the Colorado Trail 2003!

Updates on Samwise's status:

Hiker Silouette 8/11/03:
Samwise is back home. All safe and sound. =)

8/10/03:
Samwise will be flying back tomorrow afternoon. (Yeah!)

I just added the last few Journals to this site. There are at least 3-4 rolls of film yet to be developed. I will post the pictures here after they are developed.

8/04/03:
Samwise has now *Completed* her through-hike of the Colorado Trail!

Yesterday afternoon she and Max hiked into Durango, CO, completing their trek through the Rocky Mountains of Colorado.

The conclusion of their 2003 through-hike was somewhat uneventful - - which is a good thing, as far as I am concerned. She was able to finish without the knee pain and the anemia that she experienced by the end of the Appalachian Trail through-hike. When I asked her how she felt last night, she said "I'm hungry."

The last week on the trail was not without some excitement though. Sometime after dark several days ago there was something ambling through their campsite. David and Roberta were also camping in the same area that night. Samwise and Max had already gotten to sleep, but were awakened by them yelling and making noise to chase off the bear that was chewing on things in the campsite. They could hear it chewing on some discarded plastic from a food bag that had been left near the campfire by hikers in that spot the previous night.

They managed to scare it off, but had to do it again later that same night.

I'll let Samwise tell the story in more detail in her journal entries. (Unfortunately, these latest journals won't be typed up until after she returns home.) She'll be flying back home in one week. (!!) I will pick her up at the airport next monday afternoon.

Feel free to post congratulations to her website guestbook, or email them to her (or both).

Happy Trails!
-tony

7/29/03:
Woo Hoo!
Less than a week left!

Samwise called from Silverton last night. The hike seems to be going well. She said that they are in the 'monsoon' season now, as the locals call it. They are in a weather cycle where it rains almost every afternoon. She didn't have any unusual aches or pains, so her body must be holding up better this time. However, she did mention that when she had to jog back a short way to the campsite to retrieve a forgotten item, the leg muscle injury started bothering again. Apparently she can walk for hundreds of miles without a problem, but running will cause pain almost immediately.

So far she has seen elk, coyote and a few other animals, but no bears.

Samwise and Max will be finishing up the last few sections of the Colorado Trail this week. They expect to arrive in Durango on Sunday 8/3/03. So it should be all downhill from here. ...at least figuratively. =)

Then she will have about a week to get back to Denver, spend a couple days with friends and family, keep ice on her overworked joints and muscles, and then head back home. =)

I had better start cleaning up the house! Less than two weeks!

7/21/03:
Samwise should be doing well. She has past the halfway point. In fact, she passed the halfway point a week ago. So, it is all downhill from here... so to speak. =)

I haven't heard from her since then, but she should be coming to a town this wednesday or so.

7/14/03:
Samwise is still hiking away! She should be arriving in Monarch/Salida Colo. today. In fact, she should be calling me any minute now. =)

The last time that I talked to her, she was passing through Twin Lakes. She was doing well. She had already climbed both Mt. Massive and Mt. Elbert - - the two highest peaks in Colorado. Mt. Elbert is the highest at 14,433 feet. It is only 60 feet (i think) lower than Mt. Whitney in California, the highest peak in the lower 48.

She said that the trail is dusty, and that she is therefore dusty. very dusty. She had not seen a drop of rain since the first week on the trail. Quite the opposite of the east coast that she had recently left. The mountain streams were still flowing, however. There didn't seem to be a problem with the streams, as they had enough water from the melting snow. This of course meant that the streams were extremely cold. Makes for very refreshing drinking water, eh? ...'course it also takes longer to boil because it's so cold. She also has to use more fuel in her stove because of the altitude. (Incidentally; I made her a new stove for this hike. On the AT hike she used a tuna-can stove. On this hike she is using a slightly more sophisticated soda-can stove. Coke and Guiness cans, to be precise.)

The elevation changes are the first difference between the AT and the CT. On the AT, a hiker would climb several mountains in a single day. The trail is always moving up or down. The total cumulative elevation gains and losses on the AT are the equivalent of hiking to the top of Mt. Everest sixteen times! (..that's from SEA LEVEL to the top of Everest!) The CT starts at high altitude, and then stays there. There are climbs and decents, but they are not the constant pounding on your knees like the AT. On the CT, it is a hikers lung's that need acclimatization -- especially someone who has lived at sea level for the last 7-8 years.

The second difference is the weather. During her AT hike, Samwise spent days (weeks!) hiking through almost constant rain in Virginia. Then a few states later, in New Jersey and New York, she was hiking through one of the worst droughts in the history of the state (and the east coast). Needed water sources along the trail had dried up, putting her and other hikers in danger of dehydration. On the CT the weather has been much different. The temperature is somewhat dependent on the altitude. It might be warm at the start of the day, say at 10,000 ft. While in middle of the day it could be downright cool & windy while they are hiking at 12,000 - 13,000 ft. She also said that the nights sometimes get down to freezing if they are camped at a higher elevation. The greatest conundrum, at least in my little mind, is that while the air temp might be cool, the sun is quite intense because of the thin air. At one point Samwise commented that this is the first time that she has had to apply sunscreen over goose bumps!

Another difference between the two trails are the trees.

Finally, the social aspect of the two trails are different too. ..but I'll have to write more on these next time.

7/6/03:
Samwise is doing well. Tomorrow or Tuesday she should be getting to the next town, where she can refill, refuel, and get a bath and a real bed. She will have climbed Mt. Massive and Mt. Elbert during the past week. Mt. Elbert is the highest peak in Colorado.

She is somewhat used to the altitude. The early sections of the trail were around 8000 feet, which she was getting used to. Now she is spending a lot of time hiking at 10,000 - 12,000 feet, with a couple side trips to climb the 'fourteeners - - the 14,000+ ft. high peaks.

She has also been experiencing more temperature variations than, say, on the AT or here at home. Because of the altitude, there are still snow drifts in places, and sometimes the temperature is quite cool. However, the air is rather thin and the sun is also rather intense. She commented that this is the first time that she has had to apply sunscreen over goosebumps.

6/27/03:
Samwise has called home a couple times. The first time was when she stopped by Kari's place (as mentioned in journal4) and was able to make a phone call. The second time was while she was passing through Jefferson, CO. They were only passing through, however, and kept presing on after a short time in the town.

Samwise's 2001 A.T. website